The Purpose and Content of the Program
The Master in Media Arts is an international two-year program that emphasizes creative collaboration and innovation in the field of audiovisual media, digital art, and emerging technologies. Based on artistic research and multidisciplinary experimentation, candidates develop a critical and investigative practice with a focus on the media arts´ role in society. Emphasis is placed on sustainable, diverse, and inclusive production, in close collaboration with industry and professional fields.

Situated within Westerdals Department of Film and Media, the program combines expert knowledge in 3D graphics, film, TV, game design, scriptwriting, visual effects, animation, and sound design. As a student, you will be included in an international and interdisciplinary group of peers, with access to state-of-the-art facilities, technology development skills, expert professionals, and distinguished guests, for the creation of new stories, forms, and formats of the 21st century.

With its urban location in downtown Oslo, the School of Arts, Design and Media (SADM) at Kristiania University of Applied Sciences offers multidisciplinary synergies from the Department of Performing Arts, Department of Music, and Westerdals Department of Creativity, Storytelling and Design. With its 1,600 students and 120 academic full-time equivalent positions, the School of Arts, Design and Media is the largest creative and art-related environment at the university and college level in Norway. Students are also encouraged to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration with other master programs at Kristiania University of Applied Sciences.

Description of the Study Program
The Master in Media Arts program emphasizes Media Arts’ collaborative nature and potential role in society. With ethical, aesthetic, and practical perspectives, this program equips candidates with expert skills to lead and participate in team-based projects and collective works at a high international level. The program brings together the independent voices of artists, game designers, scriptwriters, filmmakers, technologists, composers, sound designers, and other creatives in multidisciplinary teams, to engage practically and collectively in the question of what future media arts may be.

With their background and important specialist knowledge, candidates will have the opportunity to challenge and develop their knowledge in interdisciplinary teams to build new and unique solutions. The overall goal of the program is to bring students with different backgrounds, professional skills, and practices together in collaborative, multidisciplinary teams to foster and grow a new generation of socially engaged media artists. The program offers the opportunity to think both collectively and individually about ways in which to shape and refine the future development of the media industry, the cultural sector, and the arts. A key factor is building a sustainable, diverse, and inclusive practice across disciplines that work together with mutual respect. Candidates may challenge and rethink common subjects such as user experience, storytelling, visual style, technology, and distribution platforms to develop artistically innovative and authentic experiences for the intended audience.

A successful candidate of this program will be attractive to a multiplicity of professional fields and industries, exemplified but not limited to the following:

Film and media development and production
Game design, animation, and interactive media production
Postproduction and visual effects
Visual art and exhibition practices
Museum and event
Journalism
Communication
Research and development projects
Innovative interactive services
Teaching in higher education

The master’s degree in Media Arts traverses across multiple artistic and academic fields. Central questions of the program address how a story or artistic expression can be developed through technological innovation in collaborative and interdisciplinary teams. This may include such questions as the use of linear or non-linear formats, implementation of immersive, passive, or interactive solutions, methods, roles, and division of labor, as well as new questions yet to be explored.

Graduated candidates of this master's program qualify for a PhD in artistic research or a practice-based PhD in the following ways:

The broad theoretical curriculum from multiple areas will provide the candidate with a solid knowledge platform in the field of Media Art.
Through designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating media art expressions at a high international level, the candidate will gain a deep understanding and experience of the field. Examples of such expressions may be as varied as interactive storytelling, serious games, film art and installations, VR/AR productions, online and traditional publishing, video games, art installations, exhibitions, live performances, web design, interaction/interface design, application development, to name a few.
The research method courses will provide the candidate with methodological skills that fulfill the normal requirements for admission to a PhD program.
Working on their reflection through intensive feedback and critical thinking, the candidate will develop the skills necessary to embark on PhD-level artistic research projects.

Overall, the students will acquire artistic insight and rigorous reflective skills as a foundation for a future PhD project.

The Program Affiliation to Research
The Master in Media Arts is situated within a professional environment that comprises broad and deep expertise in game development, screenwriting 3D graphics, sound design, VFX, VR/AR, film production, concept development, and audiovisual storytelling. These are practices that derive their grounding and knowledge base from artistic research. With its investigative approach to the field of media art, the program combines practical experimentation and testing with critical reflection on the methods and choices that stem from one's practice.

The professional environment consists of employees in teaching and research positions who are active in their field and present cutting-edge artistic research internationally at cinemas, festivals, museums, galleries, public spaces, conferences, and other peer-reviewed contexts.

The program offers students the opportunity to participate in ongoing research projects, gain access to extensive technical resources, and benefit from expert guidance and supervision. Within this supportive framework, students are encouraged to connect their practices to larger inquiries and perspectives. In this way, the program's dynamic research environment promotes a deeper investigation of media art's role in society and the complex social, political, and ethical challenges facing the future of media art today.

Relevance to Industry and Professional Fields
The media landscape is currently undergoing profound changes due to the rapid development of new media technologies. This situation provides both challenges and opportunities across a diverse media industry and professional artistic fields.

By bringing together an interdisciplinary group of students, faculty members, and guests in an exploratory and investigative environment, the Master in Media Arts paves the way for new media futures and questions what media arts can be. Through a combination of collaborative and independent artistic development, this program aims to approach, shape, and contribute to the ever-evolving media landscape. Graduated students will provide future employers with excellence in analytic reasoning, complex problem-solving, and teamwork. This includes creating new interdisciplinary team strategies, expressing strong content, developing innovative productions, and managing and exploring the complexities inherent to new audiovisual technologies.

Furthermore, the program facilitates knowledge and skills relevant to developing sustainable business models and creating new media art opportunities. A key component of the program is to empower students to work confidently and effectively with cutting-edge technology across disciplinary boundaries. This will provide production skills to tackle - and lead – technologically innovative projects and at the same time ensure that the creative goals are not overshadowed by the technology involved.

The professional focus lies in the collaborative and multidisciplinary modes of artistic production and reflection. Thus, this master seeks to develop original expressions as well as explore new professions within the field of media art. At the same time, it qualifies research-oriented individuals for admission to a doctoral program in artistic research. The program will also open the doors to teaching opportunities in higher education.

Study program MAR

Master in Media Arts